


I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where

by echoes_of_realities



Series: if I get old, old fashioned, would you get old, old fashioned with me? [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, Hyperion Heights, The New Enchanted Forest, prior to the curse breaking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-06 19:52:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14654994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoes_of_realities/pseuds/echoes_of_realities
Summary: Robin always seems to run into Alice in the oddest places; Margot always seems to run into Tilly in the oddest places; a bracelet always finds its way home; some things never change.Nobody can explain why the stars are made of the same light in every realm, and nobody can explain how people fall in love in any world. It’s unexplainable, the moon that shines bright every night even when you can't see it, summer caught in a glass jar of fireflies, the ocean folding in on itself dark and infinite, hazy and beautiful. They fall in love in two ways; loud and quiet, a whirlwind of forests and concrete streets, flickering firelight and florescent lights, both slowly and all at once, like they didn’t know it but somehow always did, all along.





	1. did you fall in love slowly?

**Author's Note:**

> I have so many WIPs and such bad writer's block it's not even funny, so I half forced myself to write this and post it in the hopes that it would kick my ass back into a writing mode. I have free time and WIPs and the desire to write, but nothing's coming kmn honestly lmao.
> 
> On the bright side, apparently I have lots of ideas for new stories, just nothing for anything I really wanna finish, though that could mostly be because Alice and Robin are incredibly adorable. I just have to edit the next chapter one more time and then it’s done, so it should be up tomorrow afternoon/evening sometime!
> 
> Title from “Sonnet XVII” by Pablo Neruda.

Robin always seems to run into Alice in the oddest places.

“Tower Girl,” she teases from the entry to the dark alley.

Alice’s head shoots up at the nickname, her blue hood falling away and revealing blonde curls that shine silver in the moonlight. “Nobin!” she says with delight, that smile that makes Robin’s heart skip a beat or ten lighting up her face.

Robin returns her smile and steps off the main street and further into the alley. “Funny seeing you here.”

Alice’s grin turns crooked and mischievous. “Oh, I’m not really here.”

Robin steps further into the alley, allowing the shadows to swallow her with assistance from her dark cape, clutching her bow a little tighter as she draws closer to Alice, who fades further into the shadows as well. “If you aren’t here, then where are you?”

“On the run,” Alice says cryptically.

Robin grins. “You _are_ so good at running.”

Alice winks, her body twisting towards Robin and almost making her swallow her tongue at how adorably sexy the move is. “So are you,” she says, pulling her hood back up and offering Robin a hand. “Care to join me?” 

Robin only has to think for a split second before her hand is in Alice’s with a smile and they are creeping to the other end of the alley. Robin’s mom is visiting her Aunt Regina at the castle for the week anyways, so it’s not like she’ll notice Robin’s absence for the next however-long Alice will keep her entertained (and likely running for her life, but Robin’s mom _really_ doesn’t need to know about that far too frequent part of spending time with Alice).

“So who exactly is chasing you this time?”

Alice shoots a grin over her shoulder at Robin, the one that always almost stops Robin’s heart every time she sees it. “Them,” she explains mysteriously, pointing to a crowd running down the main street that Robin entered the alley from. 

“Wow,” Robin teases, “you’re really popular with village mobs, aren’t you?” Alice just continues to grin over her shoulder as she pulls Robin out the other side of the alley, sticking close to the shop fronts and houses that line the street as they half-jog and half-walk through town. “So, Miss Popular, what was it this time?” Robin asks as they duck down another alley to double back to the main street when a crowd of men stumble out of a tavern just a couple buildings in front of them. 

“Well, it wasn’t my fault,” Alice explains good-naturedly.

“Well, of course not,” Robin agrees, squeezing Alice’s hand. She’s trying really hard to ignore the fact that Alice’s hand is still clutching hers, and she is especially trying really hard to ignore the fact that neither of them are wearing their usual leather gloves; Robin because she had just come from eating at a tavern and hadn’t even had time to pull her gloves back on before she spotted Alice down the alley, and Alice because God knows why. The absence of their gloves means that all Robin can really focus on is how it feels to have the soft skin of Alice’s palm pressed firmly against her own, which also means that Robin is praying to whoever or whatever is listening that her hands will listen to her for once and not start sweating nervously (which is usually what they do in Alice’s presence).

“Well you see,” Alice starts as they emerge from the alley, “I was visiting my papa and figured I’d pass through the village on my way home instead of taking the long way around it. But then I ran into those men leaving the tavern and, uh, well I suppose word got out about the whole troll incident last year.” 

“Still?” Robin asks in surprise as they walk down the street. There’s a commotion a couple of streets over and, now that Robin’s listening for it, she can hear the faint shouts of _Troll lover!_ carrying throughout the village. 

Alice hums in acknowledgement as they reach the edge of town. “Anyways, they recognized me so I disappeared down a couple of alleys and lost them while they formed a full-fledged mob. And then,” Alice tugs playfully on Robin’s hand as they take the road to the east, a thin, winding, dirt path that eventually leads to the forest about a half-hours walk from the village, “my Nobin found me and here we are.”

Robin’s thankful for the darkness, because if the sun were shining there would be absolutely no way to hide the way her face flames in pleasure at the sound of Alice saying _my Nobin._ There’s also absolutely no way Robin will ever forget every single lilt and dip of Alice’s voice as her accent plays over the breathtaking words.

“It’s been over a year since then,” Robin eventually manages after what is probably a too-long pause, “Why would they still be after you?”

“Well,” Alice says with a drawl, her attempts at a contrite expression rendered irrelevant by the mischievous sparkle in her eyes, “I may have developed a slight reputation for rehabilitating marginally dangerous creatures.”

Robin shakes her head in disbelief. “Only you, Alice,” she says fondly.

“Hey!” Alice protests with a grin, “I’m not the only troll lover anymore.”

“Well, I mean, he was kind of cute. In a homely sort of way,” Robin concedes, even though most of her memories of the troll are coloured by the delighted look Alice got when she spoke of him.

“Exactly,” Alice says, a little skip in her step.

They continue on in silence, heading for the forest. The sounds of the village and the, probably quite confused, mob fading to a low hum until the only sound is their footsteps falling in time with each other and some rustling of field mice in the long grass lining the road. Robin frowns as she maps out the surrounding area in her mind, the faint lights of town replaced by the bright light of the, thankfully, full moon. Robin may still be relatively new to this realm, but she’s always had a good memory, and the map she draws in her mind isn’t quite what she was expecting when Alice said she wanted to make it home tonight.

“Uh, Alice?”

Alice hums in acknowledgement.

“You realize your cottage is still a couple hours walk from here, right?”

Alice’s step falters slightly as she glances at Robin, and then back at the village and out towards the forest ahead. Robin can tell the exact moment Alice realizes her cottage is further than either of them realized, and even if they continue on tonight it won’t be until almost sunrise by the time they get there.

“Oh bugger,” she mutters.

Robin giggles because Alice cursing is one of the most adorable things Robin has ever seen in her entire life. “C’mon,” Robin says, tugging on Alice’s hand to continue on, “If I’m not mistaken I know a clearing we can camp the night in. Then we won’t be absolutely exhausted come tomorrow.”

“You—” Alice’s voice cracks just a little bit. “You’re going to come with me?”

“Of course,” Robin says, squeezing Alice’s hand in hers. “I want to make sure you get home safely.” _And I want every chance I can get to spend time with you_ , Robin adds silently, but she’s really working on not scaring Alice away so she keeps that to herself.

“Are you sure?” Alice asks, her face wavering and uncertain in the moonlight. “I mean, you were obviously heading somewhere and I interrupted that—”

“Alice,” Robin interrupts, hesitating for only a moment before throwing caution to the wind to keep Alice from working herself into a state, “there’s no place I’d rather be.”

Robin can hear Alice’s breath catch, but she keeps her eyes forward, a little afraid of what she might see in those blue eyes.

“Me too,” Alice finally murmurs, and Robin’s eyes snap towards Alice without her permission. Alice’s eyes are bright on hers, her cheeks scrunched up under her eyes and her smile soft and shy.

Robin’s heart pounds all throughout her body, like she can feel each molecule of blood rushing through her veins, but she manages an equally shy smile back. “Good,” she whispers, and then clears her throat and nods back towards the village. They’re almost at the tree-line now, the village nothing but a small speck of faint light in the distance. “You know the area pretty well,” Robin starts, hoping that Alice will ignore how her voice is just a little bit hoarse, “and your papa worries about you out alone, so how exactly did you leave so late that you’re walking through the night?”

Alice giggles sheepishly and Robin catches sight of a slight blush right before they enter the shadows of the tree-line. “I may have been slightly distracted and got a little delayed in my journey.”

“Distracted?”

“Right, well, there was this doe and her baby fawns on one of the bridges and it seemed mean to just disturb them so I sat and watched them instead.”

Robin can’t help but smile at Alice. “For how long?”

“I don’t know,” Alice admits with a crooked grin.

“You don’t know?”

“No, I may have had a tiny nap for an undisclosed amount of time.”

Robin throws her head back and laughs, a deep belly laugh that hurts her cheeks and startles some sleeping birds in the trees above them. Alice is staring at her with a small smile on her face once Robin calms down enough to glance at her. “You’re adorable,” she says without thinking, barely registering the blush that instantly spreads across her face.

Alice’s face shifts to a look of pleased surprise before her smile widens. “Why thank you,” she says teasingly, “I do so try.”

Robin shakes her head, still giggling a little at the idea of Alice, too kind to startle a family of deer, accidentally taking a nap on the side of a road while she waited for the fawns to finish playing. Robin glances around the forest and maps out the path in her head. She had been planning on staying the night at an inn in the village before continuing on to the castle to surprise her mom and Aunt Regina (not because she actually missed them or anything like that, that’d be ridiculous), but with a mob chasing Alice that plan has definitely changed. While she would have liked to see her mom and aunt, she actually doesn’t mind this change in plans, mostly because she gets to spend at least tonight and the next morning with Alice. 

“We should be coming up to the clearing soon,” Robin says.

“Should we start gathering kindling then?”

Robin is loathe to release Alice’s hand, but inwardly sighs and does so anyways, instantly missing the warmth as she reaches into her cloak to probe at the tinder box she always keeps in the pouch at her waist. “I think I should have enough,” Robin says as she pulls the small box out, flipping the lid open and holding it close to her face to see it better in the weak moonlight flittering through the leaf canopy above them. “Yeah, there’s enough kindling,” Robin eventually decides, flipping the lid closed and tucking it back into the pouch at her waist. “But we should start collecting some logs.”

Alice nods, and then grabs Robin’s hand again, sending her a shy smile as they continue to walk along the path. Something beneath Robin’s sternum twists pleasantly, and she glances to the side to hide the beaming smile that stretches across her face. “I’m sure they will be logs around the clearing,” Alice says, the smile evident in her voice.

“Probably,” Robin agrees, her heart stuttering. 

They emerge into the small clearing about fifteen minutes later, the rest of the walk filled with inane chatter and giggles and Alice’s hand in hers. Sure enough, as Alice guessed, there’s logs scattered just before the start of the clearing. There’s a small circle of blackened earth surrounded by rocks close to the largest tree on the edge of the clearing, one that’s so big Robin could wrap her arms around it and she would barely make it half-way around. It’s all evidence of an abandoned campsite, and Robin crouches next to the blackened earth to poke at the faint layer of ash. It’s cold and crumbles under her fingers, probably a couple days old considering how faint the layer is. 

“We can build the fire here,” Robin suggests, “and sleep against that big tree.”

A grunt behind her causes her to shoot upwards in surprise, only to see Alice struggling with an armful of wood that she drops beside the old campfire with a grin. “Sounds brilliant. I’ll set up the tree and you can start the fire.”

Robin feels her face heat up for no apparent reason, so she hums her agreement and crouches back down. Robin sets her bow down beside her and slides the quiver off her back. She reaches for her belt and detaches the small hatchet her mom gave her back when they first moved to this realm, steadying the one of the logs Alice brought with one hand and swinging the hatchet down to chop the wood with the other. She tosses the freshly split wood onto the blackened earth and reaches for the next log, continuing until they have a nicely sized pile of wood. Robin shuffles forward and starts piling the wood together into a partial pyramid before shoving most of the kindling in her tinder box into the base of the campfire. Alice appears at her side a few moments later with some extra dried bark and hands it to Robin with a smile. Robin shoves that into the base of the pyramid too and pulls out a match to run it along the side of her tinder box, waiting for the spark to sizzle into a steady flame before she carefully tucks it into the kindling pile. She leans forwards and blows into the wood, poking at the small flame with a stick until the fire is licking hungrily at the thicker logs of the pyramid. While the fire starts to catch, Robin snaps the tinder box closed, making a mental note to restock it tomorrow, and tucks it away, and then reties her hatchet to her belt.

Alice reaches out to warm her hands with the fire’s heat and, as her sleeves rise up her arms, Robin catches sight of a rainbow bracelet neatly tied around Alice’s wrist and her breath catches. She’s reaching for Alice’s hand before she even realizes she’s doing it, curling her fingers around Alice’s and turning their hands so she can see the bracelet better. “You’re wearing it?” Robin murmurs.

The firelight catches warmly on Alice’s pretty features, illuminating the pink blush emerging high on her cheekbones. “I haven’t taken it off,” she admits quietly.

Robin’s breath does more than catch at the admission, her heart skips and her stomach twists and something flutters against her ribs, and then she’s leaning forward without realizing it and pressing her lips to Alice’s cheek, fire-warm and silky-smooth against Robin’s lips. When Robin opens her eyes a pulls back, there’s a lingering warmth against her lips and fading light in the clearing as the moon is hidden behind some clouds again (Robin will later figure out that the light wasn’t moonlight, but rather a faint rainbow spreading through the clearing; Alice and Robin will later laugh about how young and innocent they were to not realize what that light meant at the time).

Robin’s cheeks flame with something more than the fire warmth, her fingers still curled around Alice’s hand. Alice’s eyes are open and deep and warm, reflecting the gold of the fire, and the best smile Robin has ever seen is stretched across her face, dimpling her cheeks a little and revealing just a hint of white teeth. Time stretches between them, like the long wispy-white jet trail against a cerulean sky, the wind in your hair and the car windows down, burning lungs and the pound of runners against the red stone of the track, the ocean folding into itself over and over, endless and infinite. Their eyes remain caught on each other and their breaths catch in their chests, Robin’s hand around Alice’s and Alice’s knees brushing Robin’s, heads drifting towards each other without conscious thought. The fire crackles loudly and spits a shower of sparks up towards the inky sky, breaking the spell.

Heat crawls under Robin’s skin that has nothing to do with the fire as they both smile shyly at each other. “We should get to sleep,” Robin eventually says.

“Yeah,” Alice agrees, standing slowly and allowing Robin to collect her bow and quiver strap in one hand before pulling her to her feet. Robin drops her bow and quiver by the tree, placing them both within easy reach, before moving to untie her cloak. Alice does the same, and the way the blue material falls from her shoulders is so enticing that Robin has to look away before she does something she can’t take back, her fingers trembling as she works on the knot sitting on her collarbone.

“We can use our cloaks as blankets,” Alice suggests, shivering in the chill the night air has without the heavy protection of her cloak. Robin eyes her out of the corner of her eye, but she’s no less breathtaking without her cloak than she is when it’s on. Robin has a working theory that Alice is just ethereally beautiful in every situation, and she has yet to be proven wrong. 

“That’s a good plan,” Robin agrees, untying her small pouch and hatchet from her belt and setting it beside her bow. She hesitates a moment before she sits down with her back to the tree, her bow and quiver close to her left hand, and spreads her cloak over her legs. The ground below her is surprisingly squishy, the soft earth augmented by moss that Alice must have collected and arranged to create a make-shift cushion. Alice has no such hesitation, flopping gracefully down beside Robin, so close that their hips and shoulders and sides press against each other. She adjusts Robin’s cloak so it’s covering her legs as well, their thighs and calves pressed together through the layers of Alice’s skirt. Alice squirms a little before huffing out a breath and grabbing Robin’s arm, pulling it over her shoulders and around her, curling closer to settle her head against Robin’s chest and shoulder.

Robin’s heart pounds so loud she’s sure Alice can hear it as Alice cuddles closer and pulls her own blue cloak up to cover their torsos, tucking it in around them. Robin glances down and, instead of her heart continuing to pound, she relaxes into the embrace, tightening her arm around Alice and pulling her even closer. The firelight casts pretty golden shadows across Alice’s peaceful face. The heat from the fire is faint but is more than made up for by the warm body pressed against her under their cloaks.

“Goodnight,” Robin whispers into the blonde curls by her chin. She knows that the position will give her about a million cricks and stiff muscles tomorrow, but she wouldn’t trade Alice’s warmth for anything.

“G’night, ‘obin,” Alice mumbles, already half-asleep.

Robin smiles into Alice’s blonde curls and cranes her neck slightly to press a lingering kiss to the top of Alice’s head. “Sweet dreams, Alice,” she murmurs.

Alice doesn’t say anything, too sleepy to form words, but Robin can feel the kiss to her collarbone burn warmly through her vest and shirt and skin, all the way down to her heart.

 


	2. or did you fall in love all at once?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is one of the first times I actually managed to post when I said I would lmao.

Margot always seems to run into Tilly in the oddest places.

The convenience store is practically empty, the only other person in the store is a bored employee flipping through a magazine and blasting music from their phone at the till, barely even reacting to the bell that _dings_ as Margot steps into the store. She flicks her thumb against her phone, hoping that the fourteen percent left of her battery is enough for her to get all the candy on her list and make it back to the tiny apartment above the bar that Roni lets her live in so long as she continues to work at the bar. 

Margot scans the rows of junk food and heads towards the farthest one from the door where the mostly stale candy is stocked, grabbing a bag of no-name brand sour gummy worms for herself as she passes them; if Roni is sending her out on late night candy runs Margot is sure as hell getting some for herself. As she rounds the corner into the aisle she notices blonde curls first, haloed over a backpack and an army green jacket where the person is crouched on the floor inspecting the bottom row of candy.

“Tilly,” she calls with an instant smile.

The head of blonde curls shoots up in surprise, blue eyes wide and sparkling as a smile spreads across her pretty features. “Margot,” she says in delight, standing up with a bag of candy in one hand and a handful of change in the other. “What are you doing here?”

Margot quickly walks down the aisle, stopping right in front of Tilly, as she answers, “I could ask the same thing of you. It’s two a.m.”

Tilly grins and holds up a package of candy in place of an explanation.

“It’s two a.m.,” Margot repeats with a smile.

Tilly shrugs. “I wanted some _Sour Patch Kids_.”

“At two a.m.?” Margot asks, her voice tinted with amusement.

“I was snacky,” Alice says with a playful eye-roll, “and this gas station is really close to Rogers’ place. Plus he’s on shift right now so he won’t even notice I’m gone.”

Margot’s smile widens. “Right, because it’s two a.m.”

Tilly rolls her eyes and nudges Margot’s arm with her elbow, sending pleasant shock waves radiating from the spot even through layers of jackets and shirts. “Oh hush. Why are you here?” Tilly’s eyes turn mischievous and her smile turns crooked, curling her lips up and to the right, dimpling her cheek and sending Margot into heart palpitations. “Looking for some fruit to go with that candy?”

Margot giggles and glances down at the bag of candy in her hand. “Not tonight. Roni said something about Lucy coming over in the morning? I dunno, it was loud in the bar tonight. Anyways, she sent me out on an errand for some treats while she closed the bar.”

“At two a.m.?” Tilly teases, her grin widening.

Margot’s smile widens in return. “At two a.m.,” she repeats, “Between you and me, Roni acts like a grandma spoiling her grandchildren half the time. She used to bring me treats or toys every time she came to visit. It drove my mom absolutely nuts,” she laughs.

Tilly’s smile turns wistful, the florescent lights above them casting unnatural shadows around her mouth. “That sounds really nice.”

Margot shifts her weight slightly, feeling the tentative trust thick between them. “It was nice,” she admits, “until Roni and my mom had some big falling out when I was pretty young. I didn’t see much of Roni after that. Well, until I turned eighteen and she gave me a job at the bar.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Tilly offers with a sweet smile.

“Oh no—” Margot protests immediately, thinking of what Tilly told her about growing up alone, “It’s fine now. Great, even. I mean— She’s back in my life now so it’s great,” she rambles. “It’s just— It’s so good.”

Tilly is watching her in amusement and Margot trails off, her face flaming. “You know, you’re a little silly at two a.m.,” Tilly teases.

“Oh my God,” Margot groans, shifting her weight back on her heels and staring up at the flickering, florescent lights above them, her face still aflame. “You’d think I’d be able to function better considering how little sleep I usually get between travelling and working at Roni’s for the last couple years.”

“Plus the internet, presumably.”

Margot turns to face Tilly, getting caught in her blue eyes. “Well, of course.”

They stare at each other for what is probably far too long, until the door _dings_ on the other side of the store and they both jump a little, laughing sheepishly as they head to the cash register, Margot quickly grabbing the rest of the candy to complete Roni’s list. Tilly goes first, quickly paying for her single package of _Sour Patch Kids_ with the change in her hand and waiting for the bored employee to ring Margot’s bags of candy through before they head for the door. Margot slips in front of Tilly so she can open the door for her, bowing and gesturing for the blonde to go out first with a flourish. Tilly giggles, a slight blush colouring her cheeks, as she shyly murmurs her thanks and exits the convenience store.

Margot grins and follows Tilly into out past the gas pumps and towards the tiny parking lot around the side of the store. There’s two streetlights on each corner of the tiny area, lighting the edges of the asphalt and casting the centre of the parking lot in shadows, the parking spaces lit by the neon convenience store sign running along the building. Bushes on the right, two parking spaces from Margot’s car (which is actually Roni’s, who really doesn’t need to know about the unpaid parking tickets that Margot has accumulated over the past month), separate the convenience store parking lot from the one of the tiny restaurant that shares the building. Tilly and Margot both hesitate half-way between the store and Margot’s car, both wanting to prolong their goodbye.

Someone screams in the distance and a dog barks in response. “Do you want me to drive you back to Rogers’ place?” Margot asks without thinking, eyeing the dark shadows in the street where the street-lamps don’t quite reach.

“Oh!” Tilly says in pleased surprise, “It’s fine, really. It’s not too far and I don’t want to be a bother.”

“No, I insist,” Margot says, stepping forward quickly and grabbing Tilly’s hand. “It’s no bother at all. I don’t know what— I mean, I— I want to make sure you get home safely,” Margot says, trailing off slightly lamely, her attempts at chivalry faltering awkwardly with her wavering voice as soon as Tilly turns blue eyes on her.

“I probably know these streets better than you,” Tilly says with amusement colouring her voice, and then her smile turns a little shy and bashful, “But I appreciate the offer.”

Margot swallows, her mouth dry, “So you’ll let me drive you home?” she asks, still unsure.

Tilly continues to smile at her, all white teeth and pink lips and blue eyes. “I’d really like that.”

Margot sucks in a deep breathe through her nose and smiles. “Okay,” she says, “I— Yeah, okay.” She releases Tilly’s hand, missing the warmth instantly, and gestures towards Roni’s car, leading Tilly across the parking lot and trying to figure out the best way to open Tilly’s door for her without tripping over her own two feet first.

Tilly suddenly stops dead beside her as they round the back of the car, grabbing at Margot’s wrist and tugging her to a stop beside her before excitedly whispering, “Robin!”

Something in Margot leaps to attention at the sound of Tilly’s voice, deep and howling, the thing twists and screams for acknowledgement. “Huh?” Margot asks dumbly, staring blankly at Tilly.

Tilly tugs on Margot’s wrist and points to the parking space on the other side of the car. “A robin,” Tilly explains, and sure enough Margot spots the small red-chested bird hopping around the asphalt. Tilly creeps closer, pulling Margot with her. “What are you doing out so late, little guy?” Tilly murmurs to the bird. Margot allows herself to be pulled down beside Tilly, fighting a deep-seated disappointment she doesn’t quite understand.

The bird hops towards them, tipping its head to the side as it regards the two girls. “You’re really pretty, you know that?” Tilly asks, and the lilt of her accent makes Margot’s breath catch and she can’t help but wish she were the one Tilly was talking to instead. The bird hops closer again, chirping at them, and Tilly gasps in delight. “And such a beautiful voice, too!”

Margot feels a little ridiculous, crouched in a parking lot of a gas station at two a.m., watching a bird she could see anywhere at any normal-person time, but with a bag of candy in one hand and Tilly’s hand in her other, there’s absolutely no place she’d rather be.

A rustling from the bushes that border the restaurant’s parking lot catches their attention and the robin flies off in their distraction. Tilly gasps again and clutches at Margot’s hand with both of her hands this time, sending tingles up Margot’s arm as Tilly’s fingers brush bare skin. “A bunny,” she whispers, nodding towards the bushes where a jackrabbit is poking it’s nose out of the bushes and regarding the two girls in much the same way as the robin, before disappearing with a rustle. “Wow,” Tilly marvels, granting Margot a brilliant smile, one that crinkles her eyes and scrunches her cheeks. “I haven’t seen so many animals downtown in,” Tilly trails off and sits back on her heels, staring up at the sky in thought, her smile still wide and her hands still clasping Margot’s, “oh, I don’t how long. Years, maybe.”

Margot manages to not swallow her tongue, even though her mouth remains dry as she watches Tilly watch the sky. “Yeah, it’s weird to see them right in the middle of the city,” she manages to agree, somehow regaining her senses right up until Tilly turns sparkling blue eyes and a wide smile back on her. Time stretches between them, like starlight dripping over the inky shadows of night, the sparks of a campfire flickering into the trees above, fireflies caught in a glass jar like the dying light of summer, the ocean folding into itself over and over, endless and infinite. Their eyes remain caught on each other and their breaths catch in their chests, Tilly’s hands around Margot’s and Margot’s knees brushing Tilly’s from their crouched positions, heads drifting towards each other without conscious thought. A car door slams at the gas pumps and, for the second time that night, it breaks the spell over them.

Margot feels heat crawl under her skin, matching the blush rising in Tilly’s cheeks, as she leans back, slowing standing and shaking blood back into her legs as she pulls Tilly up beside her, their hands still tangled and the toes of their shoes brushing against each other.

“We should get going,” Tilly eventually says, reluctance coating her words.

“Yeah,” Margot agrees, just as reluctant. She slides the handle of the bag over her wrist and reaches into her jacket pocket for her keys, unlocking the car and, loathe to release Tilly’s hand, slips her keys back into her pocket before taking a half-step away from Tilly to open the passenger door for her. 

Tilly murmurs her _thanks_ as she gracefully slides into the seat, her fingers lingering on Margot’s wrist as she pulls away. Margot carefully shuts the door, taking a steadying breath of the cool night air and hoping her face will de-redden by the time she walks around to the driver’s side. She pulls out her keys again as she opens the car door, taking out her phone and wallet and dropping them into the cupholder before tossing the bag of candy into the backseat and sliding in. Tilly offers her a warm smile as she starts up the car, mindlessly chatting about everything and nothing as she guides Margot the few blocks to Rogers’ apartment building. Margot wishes time would stall so she could stay in this car with this girl forever; Tilly making her laugh so hard she swerves the car a little, some old classic rock music playing softly through the speakers of the radio station that Roni always listens to, the streetlights painting Tilly’s beautiful features in flashes of gold right before the inky darkness casts shadows across her face again, lines and valley that Margot wants more than anything to map with her fingers.

They pull up to the apartment building much too soon by Margot’s standards, and, based on Tilly’s disappointed sigh, by her standards as well. Tilly turns to look at Margot, her eyes almost silver in the shadows of the car, the dashboard light painting her pale skin in green tones. “Thank you,” Tilly whispers, as if the night sky demands quiet in its dark.

“Anytime,” Margot promises, willing to go on late night candy runs at two a.m. anytime if it means she’ll run into Tilly.

“Goodbye, Margot,” Tilly murmurs. Her eyes dart all over Margot’s face, lingering briefly on her lips before settling on her eyes again.

Margot’s breath catches and she swallows her nerves, offering Tilly a shy smile, before slowly leaning forwards. Tilly’s head tilts slightly to the side, her face mirroring Margot’s as if she is drawn towards Margot in the same way Margot is drawn to her. Margot’s heart pounds deep in her chest, echoing through her body and rattling her ribs like the butterflies in her stomach are trying to escape.

Her phone goes off just before her lips meet Tilly’s and, instead of catching her mouth, Margot’s lips hit Tilly’s cheek, just barely brushing the soft skin as they both jump, Margot’s knees slamming into the steering wheel. A burst of warmth fills the space that Margot is sure is mostly from the blush covering her face, light illuminating the car as her phone seems to ring even more urgently.

Margot pulls back with a rueful smile, her heart pounding in her ears at the awed look on Tilly’s face. “Hello,” she answers, a little more breathless and a little less composed than she would otherwise like to be.

“R- Margot? Where are you?” Roni asks in her ear, less of a question and more of a demand. “It’s been almost forty minutes and your mom will kill me if she ever finds out I sent you out this late.”

“What?” Margot asks in surprise, glancing at the car clock where the time flashes at her as _2:47_. “Wow,” she marvels, “I guess I really lost track of time.”

“Lost track of time?” Roni asks incredulously. “Margot, it’s almost three in the morning, what could possibly distract you so?”

“I wasn’t— It wasn’t— I mean, I ran into Tilly at the store and I offered her a ride home.”

Roni is silent for a long moment. “Ah,” she says, her voice strangely knowing, “so it was a _blonde_ distraction.”

“Roni!” Margot protests.

“Your mom warned me about you being enamoured by a cute blonde. That cute blonde wouldn’t happen to be your current distraction, now would she?” Roni teases.

_Distraction_ is a good way to describe Tilly, Margot thinks absently, thankful that Roni’s car is so old it doesn’t have bluetooth for her phone to connect to and broadcast Margot’s crush to said crush and irreversibly embarrass her. “Oh my God,” Margot says, electing for a non-response when Tilly turns curious eyes on her.

“Well either way,” Roni continues, “you better hurry up and get back here instead of sitting somewhere in a dark car. Someone might think you’re a creep. Plus you have to work tomorrow still.”

Margot pauses and casts a searching glance around the mostly deserted street. “Roni, can— Can you see me or something?”

“No,” Roni answers, both too cool and too quick to be completely truthful.

“Right,” Margot says after a long beat, looking anywhere but at Tilly, praying to whoever or whatever is listening that Roni isn’t spying on her and didn’t just watch her gracelessly slam her knees into a steering wheel instead of managing to kiss Tilly.

“See you soon!” Roni calls cheerfully, “And it _better_ soon. I don’t want you two defiling my car.”

“Roni!” Margot hisses, her face burning, but Roni has already hung up. _Well there goes the mood_ , she thinks sourly. She sighs and glances at Tilly. “Sorry about that,” she mutters, “Roni can be a bit dramatic sometimes.”

Tilly is looking at her with a small smile, adorably confused, her lips looking just as kissable as they did a few moments ago. “I like her,” Tilly says, “She seems fun.”

Margot shrugs and tries not to smile. All things considered, with her dad dying before she was born and being raised only by her mom and her mom’s best friend, she’s pretty lucky. “She’s alright,” Margot agrees. 

Tilly shoots her a knowing smile, her eyes lingering just a little too long on Margot’s face, before she sighs a little. “I should get going,” Tilly says regretfully but doesn’t make any move to leave, “Rogers usually patrols past here around three.”

“Okay,” Margot murmurs, “Goodnight, Tilly.”

Tilly smiles softly. “Goodnight, Margot.”

Tilly reaches for the door handle, but before she can pull on it Margot gasps in surprise and delight. “You’re still wearing the bracelet?” she asks.

Tilly grins proudly and releases the door handle to hold up her wrist, shoving her sleeve up and showing off the rainbow bracelet Margot had tied there. “I haven’t taken it off.”

Something in Margot’s chest flutters wildly, sending warmth throughout her body. “That’s— I mean— I’m glad. You know, that you like it.”

Tilly’s smile shrinks in size a little but somehow seems to grow even brighter, making her glow, soft and adoring, her blue eyes sparkling brightly in the green light of the dashboard. “I like it almost as much as I like the girl who gave it to me,” she admits quietly, her cheeks flushed a light pink. Margot’s breath catches somewhere between her chest and her nose and she can do little more than smile widely at Tilly. 

“Text me when you get home safely,” Tilly finally murmurs as she pushes the door open and slides out of the car, “Sweet dreams.” Margot murmurs her response back as the door closes, watching Tilly jog up the side walk, turning back to wave at Margot as she nears the apartment building. Margot keeps the car in park, intent on making sure that Tilly safely makes it in the front door. 

Despite knowing that Tilly’s survived just fine by herself on streets more sketchy than a well-lit apartment building in a neighbourhood only a couple blocks from the police station where Rogers is probably downing a coffee, Margot worries that if Tilly’s out of her sight something bad will happen to her somehow. It’s a little ridiculous, Tilly has good instincts regarding danger, and Hyperion Heights is pretty sleepy, aside from that whole Candy Killer incident, and those months when Belfrey was trying to drive everyone out of the Heights, and that whole super weird cult-murder thing with Eloise Gardener; _okay_ , Margot concedes to herself, _so the Heights is pretty sleepy aside from the last couple months_. But despite knowing that Tilly is a survivor, Margot worries about her when they’re not near each other, a deep-seated worry that comes from the same place that jumped to attention when they were looking at the robin earlier in the night. It’s such a strong feeling that Margot would be more than a little worried about scaring Tilly away (in fact, it scares Margot herself a little bit), if it weren’t for the fact that Tilly seems to have the very same deep-seated worry considering that she always tells Margot to call or text her when she gets home safely after they part ways.

Margot is leaning over the centre console to wave at Tilly when she spots the green package of candy sitting on the passenger seat. She quickly hops out of the car, candy bag in hand, as she calls for Tilly’s attention. Tilly pauses and turns back around on the stoop, her posture questioning even if Margot can’t quite make out her features (something deep in Margot’s mind wonders how she can read Tilly’s posture so easily, but it’s mostly overridden by sleep depravation from her busy work shift and embarrassment from Roni’s call and light-hearted joy from Tilly’s general presence). “You forgot your candy!” Margot holds up the bag of _Sour Patch Kids_ , taking a step to the side of her open door, getting ready to jog up the sidewalk and personally deliver the forgotten candy.

“Keep it,” Tilly calls, freezing Margot in place. “Then I have an excuse to see you tomorrow.”

Margot’s heart skips and an unconscious grin spreads across her cheeks. “That was smooth.”

Another thing to add to Margot’s endlessly growing list of _Adorable Things About Tilly_ : she winks with her entire body, her shoulders twitching and her torso twisting into the wink. “I’ve been working on that one since you offered me a ride. It’s almost as smooth as you asking me out on a date.”

“Well, that worked out pretty well for me,” Margot teases.

“Yeah,” Tilly agrees, her voice incredibly soft, yet still somehow carrying perfectly across the space separating them. “Now tell me, did mine work?” Margot’s pretty sure her smile won’t ever fade, especially when Tilly’s laugh reaches her ears. 

“I’ll let you know tomorrow, when I return the candy.”

 


End file.
